6 Questions for Rene Reinsberg of Celo – Cointelegraph Magazine

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to  Rene Reinsberg, a co-founder of Celo, an open platform that makes financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone.

Rene Reinsberg is a co-founder of Celo and president of The Celo Foundation, a grant-giving organization supporting the carbon-negative Celo blockchain. He has been working at the intersection of finance, technology and development for the past 15 years, including at Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, General Catalyst Partners, the World Bank and TechnoServe. His previous company, Locu, was acquired by GoDaddy where he served as vice president of Emerging Products post-acquisition.

1 — What is the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?

For blockchain to achieve mainstream adoption, there must be a broader understanding of the technology, which requires better awareness and education for everyone from crypto novices to crypto natives and beyond. This responsibility falls largely on crypto to do the work when thinking about last-mile solutions and go-to market approaches. 

We can build a protocol, but we’re also responsible for explaining our infrastructure and championing inclusivity. By presenting onboarding as a solution, dedicating resources to developing a simple or fun gamified user experience, and building quality ramps between crypto and fiat currencies, we make the industry more approachable and easier to navigate. Accessibility, which has always informed Celo’s mobile-first approach, is also key. With 6 billion smartphone users globally, easily accessible, decentralized financial building blocks are necessary for building long-term, real-world adoption. 

Lastly, we should shift mainstream conversations around Web3 toward real-world applications and use cases that serve everyday people around the world. As Web3 can be used as a transformative tool to help uplift historically disenfranchised communities, such as the un- and under-banked, sharing how blockchain has benefited farmers in Kenya to at-risk environments like the Amazon rainforest will further illustrate its impact.

2 — What do you think will be the biggest trend in blockchain for the next 12 months?

As early DeFi protocols mature, we are seeing a big push toward ReFi (regenerative finance) models, which align with the Celo Foundation’s values of…